I recently asked my Facebook followers how much they spend on groceries and boy, was that a popular question with over 3,000 responses! I suppose inquiring minds want to know. Many of the responses ranged from $100 to $300 a week (for a family of four), with the majority coming in closer to the $150 to $250 mark. How much do you spend (and for how many people)? I’d love to get your input plus any useful tips on how you stick to it in the comments below!
If you’re trying to get your family on a weekly or monthly grocery budget (that you can actually stick to) a great place to start is by adding up how much you currently spend on food (at the grocery store, farmers’ market, eating out, etc.). You can do this by calculating a weekly or monthly average based on credit card statements over the last six months. Personally, I think a weekly budget is easier to follow because you can’t go too far over budget before you realize you’re in trouble.
Is there an app for that? Yes, of course!
I then asked what everyone’s favorite apps (and websites) were for grocery shopping and budget tracking, and these were some of the most popular answers.
- EveryDollar (by Dave Ramsey): Free (with ads) or $99/year for bank syncing
EveryDollar follows the zero-based budget approach recommended by top personal money-management expert Dave Ramsey. Available for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch or Android devices.
– - YNAB (You Need a Budget): Free 34-day trial then $50/year
Bank syncing, goal tracking plus debt management software all accessible in real-time from any device. Available for iPhone/iPad and Android devices.
– - Out of Milk: Free
Shopping list app for creating and sharing shopping lists with friends and family. Available for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. and Android devices.
– - Mint: Free (with ads)
Create budgets, track and pay bills, monitor your credit score and more. Available for iPhone/iPad and Android devices.
– - Flipp: Free
Matches digital weekly circulars from over 800 local retailers with coupons from the brands you love so you can find the best deals in your community every week. There is a shopping list feature as well. Available for iPhone/iPad and Android devices.
I hope these help make it easier for you to you stay on track going forward. If I missed any good ones, please share with us in the comments! :)
Highly recommend You Need a Budget. We’ve used it for 1.5 years now and it makes budgeting (not just for groceries, but for everything) so easy, I use it on the desktop, and the app.
I love YNAB! I’ve been using it since it was an excel spreadsheet. It’s a great program!
We love Every Dollar without syncing to our bank. It helps my husband and stay of track in all areas of our budget. And we budget $1,000/ month for our family of 6 (kids are 4,6,12,15).
I use Every Dollar for budgeting but Southern Savers for deal she and coupons. Southern Savers is based in South Carolina so it may cover mainly southern chains.
I budget $150 a week but I try to stick to $100 for our family of 5. Amazon Fresh delivery makes it easy not to do craving-based purchases.
400/week for our family of 8!
I live in the D.C. area and spend $400-500/month on our family… 2 adults, 4 kids and one on the way. This includes toiletries and cleaning supplies as well as food.
I consistently spend between 300 and 400 every two weeks for 4 people and 7 cats for groceries plus household neccesities. Lately I have been keeping a tighter rein and doing my best to keep it under 300.
we typically spend more. and we can barely afford anything organic. we can spend about 300 a week just for 2 of us. of course we live on an island at the moment. and now since the hurricanes our costs are higher because we only have a cooler. we can easily spend 25-30 a day between ice water and food for the day. and this is after losing hundreds of $ that were in the freezer .
not sure when we will get electricity either. its hard to plan weekly menu with such a limited cold storage system
We spend about $200 every week for a family of 6. Thanks for the apps recommendations – will be checking those out.
I see a lot of families bigger than mine spending less than I do on groceries (including organic items) and household items altogether. Can you do a post about how to do that?! I know you did your 100 days on a budget before, but there is no Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods near me. I shop at Aldi, Thrive Market, a local farm for meat sometimes, a regular grocery store here that offers organic options and target/amazon for household supplies. I have a new baby and I need to save, so please someon explain! I don’t have time to be an extreme couponer, and I did start using the every dollar app to budget better. The only bulk store here is Sams and I just don’t know if it’s worth it to pay for a membership and I also don’t have a ton of room for bulk items in my house.
Elizabeth, I feel the same. I wonder how accurate the self reporting is.. ? and it’s too bad that this topic is so taboo.
We spend $150 weekly for a family of 4 with money to spare at the end of the month. When kids were younger and we were getting out of debt with Dave Ramsey it was $85 a week. This included household items and toiletries. I do not use coupons unless it’s something I already buy . Most of my fruit and veggies are organic as is my milk. I make several items from scratch and only buy snack-type food on occasion. This total includes chicken and fish but not red meat. I hunt a deer a year to supplement our meat supply. I shop at Trader Joe’s and Walmart. I also have a garden and can in the summer when I have abundance. The absolute key to a low food bill is both a budget and a plan.
It’s just me and my husband so I can’t speak to feeding kids (yet) but I did want to leave some “tips” on what has helped me as we have a really small budget we tend to stick to (husband is in graduate school/I’m a stay-at-home wife soon to be mom).
I do almost all of my shopping at Aldis (I don’t shop organic but they are growing big in that field so I would encourage people to try out their organic section). I honestly feel like when I go to Target that I spend the same amount of money on two things that I do for a cart load at Aldis.
Meal planning is a big money saver! But when you are meal planning – take into account what you already have. Before I make any purchases I really do consider if we need it or not. I think a lot of families spend a lot of their money on snacks/fun food which is fine in moderation but that stuff is usually really expensive. It helps me to remember that it’s “fun” to say “no” to myself when it comes to fun/snack foods that I don’t really want but might be craving. :) I also try to really evaluate myself when shopping – do I really need this? Could I substitute with something I already have? I save all of my receipts and I try to scan them over before I leave the store to 1) check their accuracy and 2) It helps you see where all the money went to and from there you can find if you splurged on something that wasn’t maybe worth it etc.
I also make almost everything homemade which saves a lot of money.
I stock up when things are really at a good price (especially meat – and this is coming from someone who has a super small freezer. :)) If I lived in a house I would definitely invest in a second freezer!. If I make a larger meal I try to freeze some of it (soups are great for doing this). We do eat a lot of leftovers for lunches (but we also really really like leftovers).
P.S. I also have gotten fooled at other stores when I have seen some of their crazy deals and stocked up – only to then go to Aldis and it was STILL cheaper at Aldis! lol :)
Not sure if any of that was helpful. :)
Oh my gosh, Mirna! You were typing the same time I was and have the same tips! That’s so funny. You’re doing awesome, soon to be mama! Keep it up! :)
Elizabeth,
We’re one of the families (just four of us though) that spend about $150/week and buy mostly organic. We do have a Trader Joe’s, but don’t shop at Whole Paycheck. Our biggest money saver is Sprouts, a local grocery store with a lot of organic options. We buy ONLY what is on sale and in season. I meal plan weekly (trying to base our meals off of what needs to be used up in the fridge), then shop only buying what I don’t have to make those meals. We also use less meat. I’d rather buy a smaller amount of grass fed beef than a huge amount of standard beef. If meat is on sale, then I grab a couple of extras for the next week. I make a lot from scratch too (granola, bread, tortillas). Buying ingredients is cheaper than buying products. I don’t have time/energy to coupon either. I work full-time with two kids in sports. Life is crazy all the time. To help with this AND save money, my husband and I switched to only shopping once a week. This prevents all of the little shopping trips that add up! Congratulations on the new baby!
I spend about 198-220 a week for a family of 4. We eat breakfast lunch and dinner at home. HOwever we do eat out 1 meal a week. That total does include household cleaning and misc. plus food for 2 dogs and 1 bunny.
$120-$150 per week for our family of 7!
This is so impressive! Do you mind sharing the kinds of meals you make? Do you grow any veggies at home or raise chickens for eggs?
We spend $350 per month on groceries. Occasionally we go over by a few dollars. We are a family of 4 with a 5th on the way. My kids are all under 4, so they don’t eat as much as older kids. We are blessed to have dent and bent type stores in our area, where groceries are quite a bit cheaper than the regular store, but I can’t get everything there. Meat, milk, and some recipe ingredients I have to buy at a regular store. I buy in bulk and make a lot from scratch.
Family of 6 -4 boys 9 and under living in Boston. Eat mainly organic when we can, Eat out once a week in some fashion on average and make all other meals typically from scratch. We spend $350-$400 a week from regular grocery stores, farmers markets and Costco
I wish this topic wasn’t so taboo and we could look at how different families prioritize their food spending. For example, we do not eat a lot of meat, but the meat I buy is local and very high quality (same with milk and eggs). My produce, bulk goods, and canned food are all bought at the cheapest possible (but I buy a ton of produce). We never eat fast food but will occasionally buy a pizza or eat out at a restaurant. The fact that another commenter said they spend $350/month on food just boggles my mind and I wish I knew some details. Lisa, maybe some readers can share their weekly/monthly spending report (anonymously)? It would be interesting to compare parts of the country and lifestyle preferences. Or maybe share a few of the most common family meals and break them down by cost of ingredients (I just did one quickly — taco soup costs about $19 to make from scratch, while the vegetable curry — $14)
I would love to know this as well! We’re a family of 5, eat every meal at home, and we’re routinely spending $200-300/week. It’s my biggest source of stress.
We are a family of 5, and spend about the same and it’s also a huge stress for me :) Helps a little to know I”m not the only one.
I signed up for plateJoy when they were featured on this website. You create a menu for the week using their recipes and they compile a shopping list for you. It’s not a free service but it was worth it for me. Using this servise saves me time and money keeping me organized and cutting out waste. I’ve actually been able to cut my grocery bill in half and still use high quality foods. Another change I made was committing to one grocery store. I no longer shop at 5 places. I chose a store where I felt I could get the most reasonable prices while still providing clean options. I definitely had to compromise on a few products we were used to having but in the long run it’s saved us a ton of time and money just sticking to theses two things. For my family of 6 plus two dogs I spend about $200/week including toiletries, cleaning supplies and pet food. This includes all meals and snacks minus one dinner out per week.
I have a $150 a week budget for a family of 4. I tend to buy organic only if it fits the budget that week, otherwise I don’t. What I have found is that usually there is SO MUCH I have in the pantry and freezer that just sits there. At least one week per month I only meal plan out of the pantry/freezer — so that week I may only spend $75 to get things to round out the meals… but the main items are from my “stock”. I also have an overstock type grocery nearby that I get all kinds of random finds that are helpful to the budget. IF there is a week that I spend $200 for example, I really try to cut back and eat out of the pantry the next week to get back on track.
We spend about $250 a week. This includes vitamins. This however does not include pet food or household cleaners. I shop at WinCo, Sprouts, Costco and Zaycon for bulk meats. I do not coupon. It always seems like coupons are for processed food and we don’t really buy much that comes in a box. I cook mostly from the the 100 days of real food cook books and blog. We have a family of 4.
I believe it needs to be shared if this is for all meals. Etc. We used to spend $100-150 per week for a family of 5. That’s 2 adults 2 teenage boys and s little girl. Now we spend $150-220 per week. Before all kids were eating breakfast and lunch at school. They qualified for the free program at. Thus year they didn’t so budget had to go up.
We are a family of seven (5 kids ages 11 and under, youngest still nursing) and we spend approximately $200 per week on food (in North Carolina). This does not include much in the way of organics (except milk and some meats), but it does provide MOSTLY whole foods for our family with a few convenience snack items and junk splurges. I find that when I try to spend less than $200 it requires so much extra prep work that I am going crazy. We spend a little extra to avoid making everything from scratch and to allow for some easy snacks like fruit squeezers, granola bars, cheese sticks and non-whole foods snack crackers in our budget. This feeds us pretty much 3 meals a day, seven days a week. We do not eat meat every night and I think that helps keep costs down. Although I would love to spend less I try to remember that Europeans spend significantly more of their income on food and are significantly healthier than us! Better to spend it on good food than medical bills!
We usually spend anywhere from $80-$150 a week. Usually averaging $120. We eat out 1-2 times a week. We are a family of 4. I always make a list of what groceries we need and I put a few items that we could use, but could also do without. I sometimes will approximate prices on each of the items and estimate my total before I leave the house. That way when I’m deciding if I need that extra bag of chocolate chips, I think twice and usually put the unnecessary items back onto the shelf.
Since I only eat for one, I currently spend about $60 a week which includes pet supplies/household supplies etc. I only eat out approx 2 times a week and tend to eat very simply, Focusing on whole foods. ie: eggs, cereals, oats, homemade muffins, fruits, vegetables, sandwiches, nut butters, cheese, tuna. I no longer buy wine/beer, so that is a major money saver..whew :-).. I can also find 1/2 price salads that are great as well…I also check the marked down canned items and stock up when I can on items such as organic soups, natural sodas and veggies. I have learned a lot from 100 days..such as “Eat what you have, then buy something new”. It really does save time and money. My food waste is almost zero.
We spend between $100-$125 per week for a family of 8. We don’t eat out, I meal plan, make a grocery list and stick with it. I shop at Aldi’s almost exclusively and only go to a bigger store if there’s something they don’t carry.
I would LOVE to know how you do that! Would you mind sharing a sample meal plan and grocery list?
I actually got the meal plans and grocery lists from this website! If you sign up for the newsletters, they will email them to you for free. There’s 5 of them. I printed them out and keep all of the papers inside of a plastic page protector. I rotate through the 5 weeks so we’re not always having the same things and whatever week I’m on I just put that grocery list in the front and use a dry erase marker to mark off what I’ve picked up already. When I’m done shopping for the week, I put the menu on the top and tack it up to my cork board. It keeps everything organized for me. I hope that helps!
The only changes I’ve made to any of her meal plans is if she said to have an apple for a snack and they had pears on sale for the week. I have swapped out produce she listed for their produce picks of the week as long as it didn’t effect any recipes. You can save a ton of money that way because their sale produce for the week is usually marked down close to 50%. Also, don’t let what people say about the produce scare you. They have a double money back guarantee so if you were to get something that was bad, they replace it AND give you your money back. If you have any questions, please let me know!
Thanks for the advice! I will check deeper into it!
We are a family of 8 and I typically spend about $250/week. We are a military family so I shop the commissary, which helps a lot, and farmers markets. We live in Belgium so prices vary from US a bit. I know I could do better if I planned a bit more. I always thought we spent too much but since we spend the same (if not a little less) then smaller families were doing ok.
For 8 people in Europe, that’s not bad at all. I’m originally from the UK. Food is way more expensive in the UK and most of mainland Europe. Like gas. :-)
I have been using MealBoard for about 3 years now and have really enjoyed it. It is MUCH cheaper than the options you suggested and provides a lot more than just a shopping list. You can plan your meals for weeks in advance, keep inventory of your pantry, edit the stores you frequent and plug in prices (if you want to go that far), you can sync your grocery list with your spouse in case they happen to be going by the grocery store and you can add notes to that list, you can import loads of recipes manually or through the internet so you’re not flipping through cookbooks and you can also set up notifications for a specific recipe to remind you to pull out meat from the freezer, you can scale recipes up and the measurements will automatically adjust. I use it every day. You can also email recipes directly from the app to a friend you think might enjoy the recipe. We eat out maybe once or twice every other week and as a family of three we spend about $70-200 a week or bi-weekly. We have also had a garden regularly with fresh vegetables and herbs and that saves a lot of money!